Muscle Acre put on their first event just outside Guildford on 16th November – they had initially planned an event in the Summer, but felt the site and event would not be ready so bravely postponed until they were. The team were also not greedy and capped entries at 200 to ensure that everyone had a good experience – this paid off as the basics were spot on.
The venue was well signposted and easy to find, the car park organisation slick (and free!) and the registration process smooth.
The event village had all the necessaries and a good atmosphere with music belting out before the race (although an easy listening fan hijacked the controls once the race had started).
Race Director Kev has a background in the Royal Marines and now helps train Royal Marines Cadets – many of whom were marshalling the course along with some former Royal Marines – and as we warmed up we were reminded that the Marines celebrated the 350th anniversary of their foundation this year, with Muscle Acre’s course inspired by their training and a fitting tribute to the work they do.
Kev’s warm-up was a first – movie-themed, with actions corresponding to each movie: Rocky, Jaws and Chariots of Fire you can probably guess, Brokeback Mountain I leave to your imagination….Luckily there were no Rigid Raiders in sight
Fast Twitch
The course was set up as either a 5k or 10k depending on your preference, with a mass start. A run though smoke from a grenade led up and back down a field before coming to the first obstacle, a mound of loose sand.
Inov-8s conferred no advantage over flip-flops getting up this and we all had grins on our faces as we crested the top into the farmyard. Here there was a slight hiccup – the direction sign was obscured and the marshal had been re-deployed so the front runners headed down the track to the main road, many of us reaching the bottom before being called back.
We then ran the opposite way through the farmyard, along a short road section then over a tyre jumble before getting back onto the field for the next obstacle – part of the roof of a pigsty under which you crawled. Then another. And another. And another.
This set the theme for the race – very few events force you to leopard crawl on the deck right through an obstacle, but almost every one of Muscle Acre’s crawling obstacles was so low that you could not escape this. Only one camo net was high enough to enable the bear crawl, everything else was face in the mud! From here we had some gentle hill reps before coming to some monkey bars (dry ones!)
A trail run up-next, looping through fields and woodland trails – horse cross-country jumps, leopard-crawls and a cat’s cradle had to be negotiated, as well as several runs along streams and through waist-deep ponds
Then onto water-filled skips, then another scramble but this time up a mound of loose topsoil before coming into a low mud/water crawl, muddy hurdles and then another rare obstacle: total immersion to pass under a log. A brief run to warm up again led to some over-and-under tunnels and stacks of pallets, with kind marshals washing us off with water-pistols.
Slow Twitch
The next section was not obstacle-free, but was more of a trail run looping through fields and woodland trails – horse cross-country jumps, leopard-crawls and a cat’s cradle had to be negotiated, as well as several runs along streams and through waist-deep ponds. We had the first water and jelly-baby station as we crested a hill, then loped on to see what else we had in store. The 5k and 10k routes split shortly after this, with the 10k course heading into the woods after a scramble under a camo net.
The horses in fields adjacent to the course were very excited to run with us – more than once I wondered whether it would be regarded as cheating or as ingenuity to catch one and ride him or her to the next section.
As we finished the woodland run our next obstacle was to run through a car – in through the boot, out through the side door – before picking up a sandbag for a trot around the field. From here we had more horse jumps, a gate vault and some hay bales to negotiate.
Hitting the wall
The 10k and 5k courses joined up to come at the final obstacle together – a lovely-looking light green wall with helpful RMCTT members atop it.
I usually regard walls as my forte – so was taken aback to find myself slip down this one and almost face-plant into its smooth surface on my first attempt. Second time round (perhaps with a little more respect for it) was no problem and from here it was all downhill to the finish.
Swag
Every racer loves bling or a t-shirt – and the goody-bag at the end catered for all tastes with a medal, t-shirt, water, banana, discount flyer for the next event and a DVD with info on Royal Navy/Royal Marine careers.
This was a great event in its own right - let alone as a first one for Muscle Acre - and the team behind it plan to build on this success and expand for future events. The hills for the Mud Slog were gentle, but that did not make it easy; we were tested Per Mare (or at least Per Aqua) and Per Terram and I look forward to seeing what they have in store for us next year.